


A Winner's Award

by phoenix_feathers_and_cacti



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Brother Feels, Episode tag: The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 22:04:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15398490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix_feathers_and_cacti/pseuds/phoenix_feathers_and_cacti
Summary: Louie thinks about his day and Dewey's full of surprises.





	A Winner's Award

Dewey found him sitting on one of the mansion’s porch bannisters.

Of course Dewey found him. He’s always had the uncanny ability to seek him out whenever he felt particularly down, and now proved to be no different.

Louie had been sitting cross legged, wavering precariously on the edge. He had found a particularly good spot so he could stare at the woods. Occasionally he thought he saw a pair of stray yellow eyes glaring back- though that could have been Louie’s fried nerves just playing tricks on him.

Behind him he heard the door click close before Dewey’s tentative voice asked, “Space for one more?”

Louie uncrossed his legs and gestured towards the spot beside him. Dewey took the invitation eagerly, leaping gracefully on the bannister so he could take the spot next to Louie. They were sitting so close that their shoulders were touching, and Louie wouldn’t dare shy away whenever Dewey initiated first contact.

It usually befell on Uncle Donald or Huey to comfort Louie with a warm hug or soft pat on the head because they knew Louie found comfort in physical contact. It wasn’t something he’d readily admit, but it never seemed to matter because they all seemed to already know.

But Dewey had never been much of a toucher.

He didn’t despise it by any means, and Uncle Donald was known for comforting them through touch. He just never seemed to be the one to reach out for the contact first, and when he did it was a big deal. It also meant he felt Louie especially needed the comforting.

Louie felt himself subconsciously lean into Dewey’s side as he kept his gaze focused on the forest. He knew that no bigfoots would dare to trespass onto Scrooge’s property, but he couldn’t shake the sour fear he had felt whenever Gavin had threatened his family.

Dewey didn’t speak. He just leaned back on his hands and swung his legs idly back and forth. His face was scrunched up in a thoughtful expression, though there was no way he could know what was really bothering Louie. After all, in order to get the threat away from his family he first had to pretend to be its friend.

That didn’t mean that his brothers’ delusional attachment towards the creature had been any less real.

“I’m sorry about Tenderfeet,” Louie apologized because as much as he hated the creature he hated the way its departure had brought his brothers’ to tears more.

Dewey didn’t seemed bothered anymore, however, which was odd because Dewey was known for getting super attached to things super quickly.

But Dewey just shrugged and admitted, “Eh, he had it coming. He should have known better than to try and outcon a con.”

The words forced Louie to pause momentarily as his brain tried catching up. Dewey was slouched over, elbows on his knees, and was giving him a cheeky expression. And Louie knew he shouldn’t have been surprised because Dewey had always been perceptive. It was just so easy to forget sometimes considering how simple it seemed Dewey fell for Louie’s own cons.

Then reality caught up with him and he reached over to punch Dewey on his shoulder, and like the weirdo Dewey was he just continued to grin as he barked out a soft laugh.

“You knew the whole time?” Louie demanded hotly.

Dewey rolled his eyes and acted all exasperated as he explained simply, “I know crocodile tears when I see them Lou.”

Louie struck him again- harder this time- as he accused darkly, “You’re a major jerk.”

Dewey didn’t seem to mind that all the frustration and anger Louie’s felt for the past several hours was being taken out on his arm. He just rubbed the sore spot and continued to laugh as he fixed Louie with that trademark expression of his- a mix between smug and apologetic.

“Wait,” Louie demanded as something else occurred to him, “If you knew it had been a con the whole time then why did you play along?”

“Because it annoyed you and you made me do your laundry,” Dewey explained and a chill crept down Louie’s spine despite the warm atmosphere.

Sometimes Louie forgot just how smart Dewey was. He always seemed so careless and oblivious to the real world, while he remained forever trapped in Dewey-land, but Dewey had a way about himself. He sees more than he lets on and is able to string the tiniest most insignificant details together into something meaningful.

“I also didn’t ruin your hoodie,” Dewey added almost as an afterthought, “though I know you told Huey that I did.”

Louie felt the anger roll his stomach at the thought of Huey snitching on him. Then he realized Dewey hadn’t left the room when Huey had confronted him about tricking Dewey, and he’d probably just overheard them talking- sloppy and Louie suddenly felt foolish.

“I’m aware,” Louie replied standoffishly, “Sorry for being so quick at accusing you.”

Dewey shrugged, “Honest mistake,” and when they’d been younger and trying to make friends Louie had found someone who always complained about their sibling.

They’d been several years setting them apart, which could have been part of the problem, but Louie remembered how they had always been quick to proclaim how they’d wish they were an only child. And whenever they were together they always seemed to argue and fight more so than normal siblings.

And Louie remembered thinking how lucky he must have been to have brothers like Huey and Dewey, who teased him mercilessly but it was always sprinkled with love in a way only Huey and Dewey could.

Now was no different because, though Dewey’s temper could be hot, it usually tempered out pretty quickly, and he wasn’t one for grudges. Though whenever he felt the need to be petty or vindictive he certainly could.

Parts of today was still flashing through Louie’s mind and just how annoyed he’d become with his brothers. Not only had they blackmailed him into keeping quiet, but they also insulted him every chance they got. It had hurt, but Louie had been quick to forget it all whenever Gavin had threatened them.

“And I’m sorry for shoving you,” Dewey added after a stretch of silence- almost like he could read his mind, “and calling you all those names. And just being a general jerk. I’d honestly thought you were just jealous Huey was spending more time with someone new.”

And if it had been anyone except Dewey, Louie might have been content at remaining upset. Except it was Dewey, and Dewey wasn’t shy about teasing him but he could be just as quick to jump to his defense. It was just how brothers operated, and it was never in their benefit to try and hold grudges with one another.

Besides Louie found he had to be honest, which was just the worst sometimes.

“It started off with jealousy,” Louie admitted with only a hint of bitterness as he remembered how the sour sensation had crawled up his throat at Huey just letting the bigfoot do whatever it wanted, “but when I found out about his scam I realized he needed to get out.”

“Yeah. I was surprised when you went as far as to shave patches of his hair off,” Dewey admitted thoughtfully before his expression hardened and he demanded suddenly, “Did he _do_ something to you?”

His abrupt wrath made Louie pause. He wasn’t really shocked, but he hadn’t expected Dewey to place those two particular dots together. Then again it wasn’t until several minutes ago that he’d been aware that Dewey had only been pretending to side with Huey so he could mess with him.

“Not exactly,” Louie reassured, “It’s just that after I busted him he still thought it cute to milk Huey’s trust in front of me.”

Which wasn’t entirely untrue.

Huey had a problem with trusting strangers with big eyes and sad faces quicker than he probably should have, and Louie didn’t appreciate when others- like Gavin- took advantage of that. Another part was that while around Gavin his brothers turned into major jerks, but the major thing had been Gavin threatening his family before rolling over and playing meek and defenseless- like he expected Louie to _not_ retaliate.

Dewey didn’t need to know all those details- though Louie suspected he had a good idea. After all, he had been quick to follow Louie’s lead in getting Gavin out of their lives- the slight push Huey needed because- at the end of the day- he will always side with his brothers. No matter what he claimed on the contrary.

Dewey beamed back up at him, turning back towards the woods. Louie idly wondered if Gavin had a brother he could turn to after today and figured that it wouldn’t really matter if he had. He didn’t have a Dewey, and Louie does so Louie wins yet again.

Dewey perked up suddenly, sitting straight up as he seemed oblivious to Louie’s thoughts.

“Hey, so since Huey is still moping about the loss of Tenderfeet no one is going to tell us that we can’t eat ice cream this late,” Dewey stated with a mischievous smirk.

The promise of ice cream perked up Louie’s previously sullen mood. He’d come out here with all intent of moping as he would try and push threats and dark thoughts from his mind while Huey and Dewey comforted one another over the loss of their newest friend. Life always seemed funny that way.

“Wait for me,” Louie chirped, leaping from the bannister and rushing after Dewey.

And later they’ll sneak a bowl to a still brooding Huey and listen silently as he went on and on about the briefest friendship in the history of time, and the fact that Gavin had ever thought that taking advantage of Huey’s large heart was the smartest move he could make was just more evidence that he’d been fighting a losing battle.

And, despite everything they put Louie through today, as he sat with them eating a bowl of one his new favorite ice creams he realized that there wasn’t anything in the world that could convince him to ever change that.

**Author's Note:**

> So basically this story spurred from my silly idea that Dewey hadn't really been as quick as Huey to accept Tenderfeet into his life. He'd only done it because it seemingly annoyed Louie, and like three seconds ago Louie was using him and his dream to do his laundry. I just found it odd that in the episode Dewey never really did more but insult Louie from the sidelines whereas Huey had been quick to jump to Tenderfeet's defense.
> 
> Then it spiraled out of control, and once Louie started going on about magic woods and Tenderfeet dying it had been Dewey who first seemingly fell for Louie's con. Which was weird because in other episodes Dewey is shown being perceptive (the lamp on the floor in Atlantis and the fact that he was the first to realize Mark Beak's plan) so why was it he wouldn't notice the shaver Louie was just conveniently standing beside?
> 
> Anyways, those were just my thoughts.


End file.
